EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS

A few years ago I decided that I needed to grow some plants that would provide flowers on long straight stems; highly desirable for the hikae element in the basic Sogetsu ikebana exercises. Of course, in our garden the plants also needed to be able to cope with the usual hot, dry summer of the south-west coast of Victoria. I did give them some encouragement by putting down a layer of potting-mix-quality soil that I bought in bulk from a garden supplier. The exercise has been a success, although limited in range as only two plants meet the desired criteria of long stemmed flowers. It is now more of a herbaceous jungle or weed-patch than a herbaceous border. The two plants are...

...Verbena bonariensis, which produces smallish purple flower clusters on very long thin stems;

.....and Red Valerian Centranthus ruber, which has  pink flowers in a larger inflorescence than the Verbena. The stems of both plants are firmer than the...

...Scabiosa atropurpurea which has already gone a little wild in the garden. This week I decided that I wanted to use the first two of these plants in a late spring-early summer freestyle ikebana. 

 

The vase I had in mind to use has an exceptionally narrow trough shape. I braced lengths of two straight leaf stems of Strelitzia juncea to secure the fine stems of the materials in the gap between them and the wall of the vase.

I created an overall design of tall scalene triangles with the stems. The resulting appearance is open and loose to capture the feeling of the rampant late spring/early summer (sprummer) growth. The vase is by the Japanese-born Australian ceramic artist Hiroe Swen.

I also decided it was time to make an ikebana with the Strelitzia that is flowering very well this year. The vessel I wanted to use is another challenging one with a narrow opening that required an improvised fixing technique.

This photo shows the opening into which I have inserted a forked branch. It is wedged with the forked part on the outer edge of the opening. 

I used two Strelitzia flowers and the fixing method enabled me to set the tallest stem securely in an upright position. The second flower is placed lower and faces up toward the principal line. Because Strelitzia juncea has only tiny leaf margins on the stems, I have used New Zealand flax leaves to create a small mass at the base. The large leaf on the right was initially hanging down toward the mass but lifted its head overnight (!).

The vessel is by the Victorian ceramic artist Paul Davis and was shown in his 50th anniversary exhibition "Under the Influence" at the Sturt Gallery in Mittagong in April - May this year.

Greetings from Christopher

18th December 2022